[P2P-F] Fwd: [witfor] Tender for $35 laptop project canceled: Economic Times: Jan 19

Thu Jan 20 05:05:53 CET 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Satish Jha <satish.jha at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 10:57 AM
Subject: [witfor] Tender for $35 laptop project canceled: Economic Times:
Jan 19
To:

Just to share with you how the decision making process in a developing
country (this one even called an emerging and sometimes "emerged" economy)
makes the country lose, keeps poor from getting up and claim their place
under the sun and how we keep 95% people sub-educated, if at all.. It pays
to do nothing, do your own thing rather than do the right thing!!

18 Jan, 2011, 11.54PM IST, Harsimran Julka & Gulveen Aulakh,ET Bureau
Tender for $35 laptop project cancelled
 *Read more on »*kapil
sibal<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topics.cms?query=kapil%20sibal>
|hcl infosystems<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/hcl-infosystems-ltd/stocks/companyid-10506.cms>
|$35 laptop<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topics.cms?query=$35%20laptop>

 NEW DELHI: The government's ambitious $35 laptop project has hit a
roadblock. The tender for the $35 laptop termed 'Sakshat' has been
cancelled, and the government is now issuing a new tender, as the earlier
vendor failed to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 60 crore. The $35 laptop was
scheduled to be launched by January 15, 2011.

According to sources close to the project, HCL
Infosystems<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/hcl-infosystems-ltd/stocks/companyid-10506.cms>was
selected as a vendor for the $35 laptop. A mail being circulated
inside
the Ministry of HRD seen by ET says that 'the vendor shortlisted for the
delivery of these devices has started listing some additional, unacceptable,
conditions.'

A senior official in the Ministry leading the project told ET that the
vendor did not agree to furnish a Rs 60 crore bank guarantee, which is
required under the government's General Financial Rules, 2005. A bank
guarantee indemnifies the government in case a vendor fails to deliver the
project. As a result, MHRD cancelled the previous order and has
re-advertised.

"Yes, we have re-issued a new tender. The matter will be sorted out in a few
weeks," the official said. "The Sun will rise in 2011," he added. Largest
domestic PC maker HCL Infosystems however said it had only bid for the
latest Expression of Interest in the tender, and had no information of a
decision being taken. "We congratulate the Government for their vision on
the $35 Tablet. We have no information of a decision being taken. When
government was seeking collaboration, we were one of the first to partner
it," a company statement said.

It's imperative to note that Minister for Human Resource and Development
Kapil Sibal in a ceremony last year had announced that the laptop will be
launched by January 15, 2010. The government had also allocated $6.5 million
for the ambitious project. The initial order was for a 100,000 tablets, to
be based on Google's Android operating system.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of HRD said that the $35 laptop project is
on schedule and now it plans to launch the laptop in the mid of 2010. "It
was HCL who had claimed the launch to be around January, 2011," the
spokesperson said.

According to a government source, the laptop components alone were costing
the vendor Rs 5700 without taking into account the import duties and
logistics. The government was however planning to sell it at Rs 1500 per
piece. "Disagreement on the financial cost with the vendor led to the tender
cancellation," said a source close to the project.

The government is also planning to take help of IIT alumni in sourcing
components from new suppliers from Taiwan and Korea regarding the project.
Tech analysts however say that components alone cost higher than $35 price
and it would be difficult for suppliers to meet the price without subsidy.
"The microprocessor and screen would alone costs over $35 in the market,"
said Vishal Bhatnagar, IT analyst with Gartner Inc.

*It's not the first time that MHRD has failed to deliver. Earlier in 2009,
it's $10 laptop had turned out to be a pen drive! *

-- 
Satish Jha
Cambridge, MA 02142
T: 301 841 7422
F:301560 4909
www.olpcindia.net
http://twitter.com/olpcindia
________________

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-- 
Satish Jha
Chairman,
OLPC India Foundation
One Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
T: 301 841 7422
F:301560 4909
www.olpcindia.net
http://twitter.com/olpcindia
________________

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